Gallants end Stellies’ Carling Knockout campaign
Stellenbosch FC’s 2025 Carling Knockout campaign came to an end on Wednesday following a defeat to Marumo Gallants in Bloemfontein.
Stellenbosch FC’s hopes of reaching the Carling Knockout semi-final were dashed on Wednesday after the team from the Cape Winelands suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat to Marumo Gallants, falling at the same stage of the competition and to the same opposition as last season.
Contrary to the scoreline, it was Stellenbosch who made the better start to the match when Devin Titus, wearing the captain’s armband in the illness-enforced absence of regular skipper Sage Stephens, fired inches wide of goal with a left-footed effort.
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Gallants responded with a good chance of their own just minutes later when midfielder Ndabayithethwa Ndlondlo unleashed a powerful effort at goal from range that flew narrowly over Oscarine Masuluke’s crossbar.
Stellies’ biggest chance of the half then fell to Langelihle Phili when the 20-year-old pounced to intercept a loose pass in the opposition box. He took fractionally too long to get his shot away, though, and saw his eventual effort deflected out for a corner.
With Steve Barker’s troops searching for an opener, the breakthrough came at the other end of the pitch with just under half an hour played. Ndlondlo was once again the talisman and popped up to finish off a well-worked move to open the scoring for the hosts.
Stellenbosch pushed forward in search of an equalizer and fashioned several half-chances in the remainder of the first stanza, including an effort from Andre de Jong that stung Washington Arubi’s palms, but couldn’t find the sought-after goal before the break.
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Shortly after the restart, the hosts doubled their lead when Ndlondlo scored his second of the night. The diminutive midfielder’s first effort was saved by Masuluke, but he made no mistake with the rebound to extend his side’s advantage
Stellies kept pushing to get back into the tie and came close through the boots of Mthiyane and substitute Sanele Barns. The former saw a free-kick tipped over by Arubi, while the latter was unlucky to see a drive rebound off teammate De Jong and go wide.
However, those attempts to push forward were punished at the other end as the rain bucketed down, with Mpambaniso Monde and Edgar Manake scoring in quick succession to inflate the scoreline and end Stellenbosch’s Carling Knockout campaign.